"60 Minutes" and Web Site Evaluations

[Joel Rosenfeld]

On Tue, 4 Mar 1997, Bill Crosbie wrote:
cut:
> the internet 'expert' said that one way that Leslie Stahl's page could
> be perceived as having greater credibility was the fact that it was being
> served from the CBS.COM domain.  Did that in fact happen in the report?
> 
> If so, does it concern anyone that a major media player has defined
> themselves in such a way?  I am worried about the extension of this argument
> to - "If I haven't heard of this domain, or person, or if it is not someone
> that I am familar with, that it must be bunk."

Careless selection practice has always involved over-reliance on the
reputation of the publisher. That is why librarians feel betrayed when
reputable publishers put out "junk". That is why we have to be reminded
about the valuable publications from small presses. This problem is not
new with the Internet, it just becomes more pervasive.

Joel Rosenfeld
Rockford Public Library          Just my opinion - not library policy.